1. Chapter 4 The Ancient Greeks
Lesson 1 – Poets and Heroes
Lesson 2 - The Greek City-States
Lesson 3 – Classical Greece (500BCE-338BCE)
Lesson 4 – Classical Greek Culture
Lesson 5 – Alexander and the Hellenistic Era

2. CHALLENGE OF PERSIA
Battle of Marathon (490BCE): King Darius and the Persians greatly outnumber the Greeks but the Greeks won! Pheidippides – A messenger, ran to Athens (26 miles) to deliver the news of the Greek win, then he died.*
The Challenge of Persia - the Greek colonies that had settled outside the mainland many years ago in IONIA came into conflict with the Persians. When the Athenian navy tried to help them, it caused the Persian King, DARIUS, to be furious with the Greeks and war eventually broke out.
Persians get back on their ships and set sail for Athens figuring it to be undefended. The Greek army marches back and arrive before the Persians
Who see the Greek army in battle formation and decide to head back to Persia.
*Remind you of something we see today? 26 mile marathon.

3. CHALLENGE OF PERSIA
King Darius died in 486BCE and was succeeded by XERXES who vowed revenge.
The Greeks knew they would return, so at the urging of Themistocles, Athenian general, they built up their Navy.
480BCE The Greeks were still preparing for war when Xerxes and 180,000 Persians entered Europe.

4. CHALLENGE OF PERSIA
Battle of Thermopylae – A small force of Greeks , including 300 Spartans, tried to hold off the Persians in a mountain pass so that the Greeks had time to muster an army to confront the invading force.
300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans, and perhaps a few hundred others, most of whom were killed.

5. CHALLENGE OF PERSIA
After the short delay at Thermopylae Xerxes and his Army captured the evacuated Athens and burned it to the ground

6. CHALLENGE OF PERSIA
Battle of Salamis 480 BCE Vastly outnumbered Athenian Navy (370 Athenian ships vs. over 1,000 Persian ships) defeated the Persian Navy.
Themistocles waited for the Persians to come to him. The Persian Navy sailed through the narrow Straits unable to bring their numbers to bare.

7. CHALLENGE OF PERSIA
With the Persian Navy suffering an unexpected defeat Xerxes feared being stuck in Europe and withdrew most of his Army leaving a contingent behind to defeat the Greeks the following year. Battle of Plataea (479BCE) The Greeks were able to defeat the Persian Army one of the most decisive battles in history ended the Persian presence in Europe

8. THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE
The Delian League: defensive alliance of city-states to join together in case of attack / they eventually moved the treasury to Athens
Pericles: (461 BC-429 BC) led Athens during this time. He believed in democracy and worked to expand it there.
Direct Democracy: every male citizen voted on every issue
How is our democracy different? Compare.

9. THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE
Age of Pericles: this was the high point of Athenian power and cultural brilliance. The Assembly: 1) Passed all laws in Athens 2) 43,000 members (male/citizens) 3) usually about 6,000 attended 4) Began the fundamental ideas of western civilization

10. THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE
ostracism: if someone was thought to be harmful to society, he could be voted out of the city and banned for 10 years
Athens became the center of Greek culture and had the largest population of about 300,000. About 10,000 were foreigners and there were about 100,000 slaves.

11. THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE
Greek Economy: trade was the most important activity: Products: grapes and wine, olives and olive oil. They had to import most of their grain. Family Life: family was very important. Women were excluded from public life, but stayed home to care for the family. Greeks even regarded their slaves as family.

12. PELOPONNESIAN WAR
The Peloponnesian War; after the Persian Wars, the city- states divided into two groups:
The Delian League: as noted earlier, this group was led by Athens

13. PELOPONNESIAN WAR
The Peloponnesian League: led by Sparta and her allies
Many disputes among these groups eventually led to civil war between the Greek city-states...

14. PELOPONNESIAN WAR
Athens' plan: they knew they would lose against Sparta in open battle, so they chose to stay within their city walls and receive supplies from the nearby port (Piraeus) because their navy was there.

15. PELOPONNESIAN WAR
Deadly plague: Athens was so crowded, that when a plague broke out, thousands died, including Pericles.

16. PELOPONNESIAN WAR
Athens held out for several more years, until a Naval defeat brought about the end.
They lost the war, and the Golden Age of Athens was at an end.
The Peloponnesian War had greatly weakened the Greeks and would leave them vulnerable to outside forces.
If time permits, relate this to the U.S. after our Civil War
Phillip II and Alexander the Great

17. QUESTION
After losing the battle of Thermopylae what did the people of Athens do? Abandoned their city

18. QUESTION
What is the significance of the battle of Thermopylae? None, the battle was not of any strategic significance

19. QUESTION What was the cause of the Peloponnesian War?
On-going disputes
What is the primary consequence of the Peloponnesian War?
Weakened the Greeks and left them vulnerable
Left the Greeks vulnerable unbeknownst to the Greeks the Macedonians have become the primary threat